Five Crazy Facts About Animals
Think you knew everything there was to know about animals? Probably not likely, nevertheless we thought it would be interesting to do a post about little known animal facts that are interesting to know.
Parrots do more than just squawk
Many people think that parrot speech is simply brainless repetition, however what we have learned from studies conducted over the past 30 years is these birds are engaging in much more than simple mimicry. Parrots are able to solve some linguistic processing tasks as well as children aged between 4 and 6. They seem to be able to grasp concepts such as the “bigger” and “smaller” or “same” and different. What seems to be most interesting is they are able to combine phrases and labels in unique ways. The results of a recent study suggest that parrot speech patterns can be used to develop artificial speech skills in robots.
Elephants sometimes forget, but they’re far from dumb
Of all animals, weighing in at an average of 11 pounds the elephant has the largest brain. This raises the question of how much of the brain do they actually use. Intelligence is notoriously difficult to quantify both in humans and animals. The most commonly used measure is the encephalization quotient or EQ which measures the ratio of the observed brain size to the expected brain size given the mass of the animal. This measure tends to correlate well with an animals ability to perform a number of challenges and navigate obstacles. The elephant has an average EQ of 1.88. To put that in context, humans range from 7.33 to 7.69 whilst the chimps average 2.45 and a pig has an average EQ of just 0.27. Memory and intelligence tend to correspond with one another and whilst elephants do not have perfect memories they are indeed quite good.
Giraffes Compensate for Height with Unique Blood Flow
The head of a giraffe sits 16 feet above its body on atop its long neck largely so that is can compete for foliage with other grazing animals. Obviously such an enormous reach has its advantages but it also comes with some difficulties. The giraffe’s hear has to pump twice as hard as that of a cow to ensure that blood reaches its brain. The blood vessel system is also complex so as to ensure that when its head is bent over blood does not rush to its brain.
Many fish swap gender
Some of the craziest stuff happens deep in the ocean and one of the weirdest practices is hermaphroditism which is much more common with fish than compared to any other speices of vertebrates. Some fish change their sex as a result of environmental changes or in response to their hormonal cycle. Some fish simply have both male and female sex organs simultanesously.
Evolution does reward brotherhood
It would be a mistake to believe evolution is selfish, and animals are concerned purely with their own survival. Baby chicks for example make a special chirping sound whilst they are feeding which is designed to announce the presence of food to any other chick that are nearby and probably share a very similar genetic makeup. Natural selection is not simply about survival of the fittest animal, instead it is about survival of the fittest genetic material which means that brotherly behaviour is rewarded.